TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026

The 33rd edition of the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament ran from 1 to 7 May at the Hipp Theatre in Malmö. Six players in a round-robin, played at classical time controls in the small auditorium that has hosted the event since the early 2000s. Magnus Carlsen won outright with no losses — his second Sigeman title and a confirmation of form heading into Norway Chess three weeks later.

Format

Six players, one round per day, single round-robin (each plays each once). The compact field keeps the rounds tight: the tournament finishes in under a week and produces a clear winner without tiebreaks except in mathematical edge cases. Time control is 90+30 with no second time control.

The 2026 edition

Carlsen entered as world No. 1 and the highest-rated player in the field by more than 50 Elo. He won three games and drew two; the closest race for second came down to the final round. The tournament’s tradition of inviting one promising Nordic junior alongside the elite field continued in 2026 with the Swedish IM Jonas Bjerre taking the wildcard slot — he finished last but produced two creative games widely shared in the Swedish chess press.

History

Sigeman & Co has been Sweden’s premier classical chess event since its founding in 1993. The roster of past winners includes Anand, Adams, Topalov, and — multiple times — Magnus Carlsen. The tournament’s six-player format has been deliberately preserved against the broader trend toward larger super-tournament fields, and its budget remains modest by global super-tournament standards. The event is sponsored by Sigeman & Co, a Swedish law firm, in partnership with TePe (the toothbrush manufacturer headquartered in Malmö).